Regular-Sized Poster

Story - I don't know if I'm just stupid or what, but I was really bloomin' confused by this issue. I mean, I enjoyed it, but not really sure why, and I don't even really know what happened.

Leonid chats with Leonardo Da Vinci, who spews out a lot of nigh-incomprehensible buzzword speak, which sounded fucking cool and interesting, but I'm not even sure if it actually is. We had some weird backstory for Leonid, where he's with alien lizards, and a Light Man, and a Dark Man and something else.

Leonid and Leonardo chat some more, and for some reason there's a page with just their dialogue. Did Dustin Weaver forget to draw that page or was there some reasoning behind it? It seems that the current Shield hierarchy are not living up to Da Vinci's high standards and he wants to bring them back to the right way. The end.

Wha? Huh?

I'm not going to say that this was a bad comic, as I said I enjoyed it, but it made little to no sense, almost every line of dialogue brought up a new massively significant high concept, and there was still very little character development of anyone, Leonid remains as dull as Hal Jordan here.

I mean, it's a lot of fun, and it seems very clever, but at this point to me, this book is all surface, all style, no substance. You've got all these out there proclamations about the Human Machine, and change, and the Forever Man and 'global projections of ideology', which all sound great... but I don't particularly care. Maybe I'm in the wrong frame of mind here, but something's missing which I can't quite put my finger on. I'm willing to stick around though, because this book is a fun ride, and I am truly hoping that by the time Hickman wraps this whole thing up, the gobbledegook that Da Vinci is mouthing off on will retroactively make sense. But at this point, I'm just looking at the thing, bemused, confused, and slightly scared. Yet I still had a good time. An odd one.

Art - Dustin Weaver is pretty great, aside from the random page of just dialogue, I love his work, and think this run will make him a star. Christina Strain's colours are also due some props, she really adds a lot to Weaver's pencils. Even if the story befuddled me, I can still look at the pretty pictures.

Story: 5Art: 8My Score: 6.5

I couldn't come up with anything that Punchy already hadn't said. And I'm getting ready for my vacation in Florida. So yes, I cheated this week. I just don't like this series. Sorry.

Regular-Sized Poster

Story - I don't know if I'm just stupid or what, but I was really bloomin' confused by this issue. I mean, I enjoyed it, but not really sure why, and I don't even really know what happened.

Leonid chats with Leonardo Da Vinci, who spews out a lot of nigh-incomprehensible buzzword speak, which sounded fucking cool and interesting, but I'm not even sure if it actually is. We had some weird backstory for Leonid, where he's with alien lizards, and a Light Man, and a Dark Man and something else.

Leonid and Leonardo chat some more, and for some reason there's a page with just their dialogue. Did Dustin Weaver forget to draw that page or was there some reasoning behind it? It seems that the current Shield hierarchy are not living up to Da Vinci's high standards and he wants to bring them back to the right way. The end.

Wha? Huh?

I'm not going to say that this was a bad comic, as I said I enjoyed it, but it made little to no sense, almost every line of dialogue brought up a new massively significant high concept, and there was still very little character development of anyone, Leonid remains as dull as Hal Jordan here.

I mean, it's a lot of fun, and it seems very clever, but at this point to me, this book is all surface, all style, no substance. You've got all these out there proclamations about the Human Machine, and change, and the Forever Man and 'global projections of ideology', which all sound great... but I don't particularly care. Maybe I'm in the wrong frame of mind here, but something's missing which I can't quite put my finger on. I'm willing to stick around though, because this book is a fun ride, and I am truly hoping that by the time Hickman wraps this whole thing up, the gobbledegook that Da Vinci is mouthing off on will retroactively make sense. But at this point, I'm just looking at the thing, bemused, confused, and slightly scared. Yet I still had a good time. An odd one.

Art - Dustin Weaver is pretty great, aside from the random page of just dialogue, I love his work, and think this run will make him a star. Christina Strain's colours are also due some props, she really adds a lot to Weaver's pencils. Even if the story befuddled me, I can still look at the pretty pictures.

Story: 5Art: 8My Score: 6.5

I couldn't come up with anything that Punchy already hadn't said. And I'm getting ready for my vacation in Florida. So yes, I cheated this week. I just don't like this series. Sorry.

you cheated that one big time. I am very disappointed in you.

doombug wrote:You really are the george carlin of the outhouse. that's fucking hilarious.

doombug wrote:and yeah, Yoni called it.

I feel like a condemned building with a brand new flag pole.- Les Paul

OMCTO

guitarsmashley wrote:I reread my review of issue 1, I remember scoring it rather high but still had the idea that this book would have a lot of trouble finding it's way and they probably wouldn't translate to a good monthly reading. Which is why I said I would buy the trade. Well having read this issue it has completely turned me off. The art is still gorgeous and the page of dialogue was alright but it sure isn't going to connect with many people myself included, not because it didn't have more pretty pictures, but because it didn't make sense. Which is what the book is quickly approaching. The book made no sense and that's putting it lightly. As Punch put it so well this book is no substance it's all high fluff but no point to it. If this is going to Marvels Planetary they made a very wrong turn and put out a truly inferior product.

4

In other words, if a comic book could slap you in the face with a penis, that comic book would be S.H.I.E.L.D. #2.

OMCTO

guitarsmashley wrote:I reread my review of issue 1, I remember scoring it rather high but still had the idea that this book would have a lot of trouble finding it's way and they probably wouldn't translate to a good monthly reading. Which is why I said I would buy the trade. Well having read this issue it has completely turned me off. The art is still gorgeous and the page of dialogue was alright but it sure isn't going to connect with many people myself included, not because it didn't have more pretty pictures, but because it didn't make sense. Which is what the book is quickly approaching. The book made no sense and that's putting it lightly. As Punch put it so well this book is no substance it's all high fluff but no point to it. If this is going to Marvels Planetary they made a very wrong turn and put out a truly inferior product.

4

In other words, if a comic book could slap you in the face with a penis, that comic book would be S.H.I.E.L.D. #2.

Rain Partier

I've never purchased any major technology online, but it looks very tempting. Basically all I do is research, sell crap online, ship & print postage, watch DVDs and post at The Outhouse. That takes up enough time, I don't have much use for anything else.

Rain Partier

I've never purchased any major technology online, but it looks very tempting. Basically all I do is research, sell crap online, ship & print postage, watch DVDs and post at The Outhouse. That takes up enough time, I don't have much use for anything else.

OMCTO

Dell has decent deals every week (they change from day to day). I like Newegg because the customers are techies so you can trust them to nitpick the reviews like we do comics here.But looking around, it looks like $400 is around the starting price for your basic laptops from premium places.

Of course, if you want cheaper, you can go ebay, but there's no guarantee on what you're getting there.

OMCTO

Dell has decent deals every week (they change from day to day). I like Newegg because the customers are techies so you can trust them to nitpick the reviews like we do comics here.But looking around, it looks like $400 is around the starting price for your basic laptops from premium places.

Of course, if you want cheaper, you can go ebay, but there's no guarantee on what you're getting there.

Rain Partier

Jude Terror wrote:Dell has decent deals every week (they change from day to day). I like Newegg because the customers are techies so you can trust them to nitpick the reviews like we do comics here.But looking around, it looks like $400 is around the starting price for your basic laptops from premium places.

Of course, if you want cheaper, you can go ebay, but there's no guarantee on what you're getting there.

Having been an eBay seller in good standing for several years now, I would never buy a computer there. Why do you think I am hesitant to buy on online in the first place?

Rain Partier

Jude Terror wrote:Dell has decent deals every week (they change from day to day). I like Newegg because the customers are techies so you can trust them to nitpick the reviews like we do comics here.But looking around, it looks like $400 is around the starting price for your basic laptops from premium places.

Of course, if you want cheaper, you can go ebay, but there's no guarantee on what you're getting there.

Having been an eBay seller in good standing for several years now, I would never buy a computer there. Why do you think I am hesitant to buy on online in the first place?

Rain Partier

Jude Terror wrote:Haha. Well, Newegg is reputable as a retailer, and Dell of course makes computers, buying from them online is no different than buying one of their computers in the store (but cheaper, and you can customize it a bit).

I guess the basics would be fine, I wouldn't know what to customize really. I may order one later today.

Rain Partier

Jude Terror wrote:Haha. Well, Newegg is reputable as a retailer, and Dell of course makes computers, buying from them online is no different than buying one of their computers in the store (but cheaper, and you can customize it a bit).

I guess the basics would be fine, I wouldn't know what to customize really. I may order one later today.

OMCTO

We all have our biases as readers and fanboys. Some people can’t stand love stories; other people can’t stand stories with unhappy endings. Some people crave sequels; other people demand original, unpredictable plots. The things that we love and hate, as readers or viewers, are deeply personal and often difficult to rationalize. But they guide our choices as consumers of entertainment.

The big issue for me, no matter what I’m reading or watching, is that I have to be able to suspend disbelief to enjoy the story. If the storyteller draws unnecessary attention to the storytelling process, I snap out of the enchantment of being entertained and snap back into the ugly, unenchanting world of real life.

How does this apply to S.H.I.E.L.D. #2? Well, the whole book seems to be a glossy, post-modern effort to draw attention to the storytelling process and in turn undermine the entertainment value of the story itself. First, I don’t believe -- in fact, I refuse to believe -- that real-life Renaissance figures, such as Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci, are part of the Marvel Universe and can travel the cosmos. Seriously, that’s ridiculous and it takes me out of the story before I can even get started.

Yes, I know that Marvel has often used real-life people as characters in the past. Back in the early 1970s, for example, both Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew played important roles in the INCREDIBLE HULK. And, yes, I know that Marvel has frequently incorporated current invents -- including the Vietnam War, 9/11, and the Iraq War -- into its books. But I accept those real-life intrusions into the comic book world because they were contemporary intrusions. I can’t accept a complete re-writing and Marvelization of world history. It’s too big and, more important, too absurd.

Second, Hickman’s use of the script page near the end of issue 2 completely disrupts the flow of the story. This is an ugly, post-modern device that has been overused by flaky writers like William S. Burroughs and Kathy Acker. I can’t stand it. There’s nothing worse than breaking apart the narrative style and hammering the reader with many different kinds of storytelling approaches in one book. It’s distracting and inconsistent, and again it takes me out of the story.

Third, and perhaps most troubling, it’s hard to get drawn into a book where nothing makes sense and no one speaks like a regular character. S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 has some of the most stilted language I have ever read in a comic. I’m not exaggerating. It’s as if Hickman took the very worst dialogue written by Jack Kirby 35 years ago, and tried to make it even more awkward and unnatural sounding.

This book, story-wise, is a pointless mess. The only consolation is that S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 features some pretty pictures with many shiny, bright colors. But I need more than nice pictures to enjoy a comic book. I need a full story with three-dimensional characters.

OMCTO

We all have our biases as readers and fanboys. Some people can’t stand love stories; other people can’t stand stories with unhappy endings. Some people crave sequels; other people demand original, unpredictable plots. The things that we love and hate, as readers or viewers, are deeply personal and often difficult to rationalize. But they guide our choices as consumers of entertainment.

The big issue for me, no matter what I’m reading or watching, is that I have to be able to suspend disbelief to enjoy the story. If the storyteller draws unnecessary attention to the storytelling process, I snap out of the enchantment of being entertained and snap back into the ugly, unenchanting world of real life.

How does this apply to S.H.I.E.L.D. #2? Well, the whole book seems to be a glossy, post-modern effort to draw attention to the storytelling process and in turn undermine the entertainment value of the story itself. First, I don’t believe -- in fact, I refuse to believe -- that real-life Renaissance figures, such as Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci, are part of the Marvel Universe and can travel the cosmos. Seriously, that’s ridiculous and it takes me out of the story before I can even get started.

Yes, I know that Marvel has often used real-life people as characters in the past. Back in the early 1970s, for example, both Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew played important roles in the INCREDIBLE HULK. And, yes, I know that Marvel has frequently incorporated current invents -- including the Vietnam War, 9/11, and the Iraq War -- into its books. But I accept those real-life intrusions into the comic book world because they were contemporary intrusions. I can’t accept a complete re-writing and Marvelization of world history. It’s too big and, more important, too absurd.

Second, Hickman’s use of the script page near the end of issue 2 completely disrupts the flow of the story. This is an ugly, post-modern device that has been overused by flaky writers like William S. Burroughs and Kathy Acker. I can’t stand it. There’s nothing worse than breaking apart the narrative style and hammering the reader with many different kinds of storytelling approaches in one book. It’s distracting and inconsistent, and again it takes me out of the story.

Third, and perhaps most troubling, it’s hard to get drawn into a book where nothing makes sense and no one speaks like a regular character. S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 has some of the most stilted language I have ever read in a comic. I’m not exaggerating. It’s as if Hickman took the very worst dialogue written by Jack Kirby 35 years ago, and tried to make it even more awkward and unnatural sounding.

This book, story-wise, is a pointless mess. The only consolation is that S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 features some pretty pictures with many shiny, bright colors. But I need more than nice pictures to enjoy a comic book. I need a full story with three-dimensional characters.

Son of Stein

Eli Katz wrote:in fact, I refuse to believe -- that real-life Renaissance figures, such as Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci, are part of the Marvel Universe and can travel the cosmos. Seriously, that’s ridiculous

This book is not worth the cover price.

Great review. You just pretty much described my feelings for #1. I now have no interest in reading #2 it when it arrives in my BoxoComics on Monday.

Galileo was off on orbits and the cause of the oceans tides, yet he can stop Galactus????

Son of Stein

Eli Katz wrote:in fact, I refuse to believe -- that real-life Renaissance figures, such as Galileo and Leonardo Da Vinci, are part of the Marvel Universe and can travel the cosmos. Seriously, that’s ridiculous

This book is not worth the cover price.

Great review. You just pretty much described my feelings for #1. I now have no interest in reading #2 it when it arrives in my BoxoComics on Monday.

Galileo was off on orbits and the cause of the oceans tides, yet he can stop Galactus????